CH 30.2

I heard a beeping tinnitus ring in my ears. The vibrating tinnitus gradually diminished over time.

Eri, with her hands pressed against her ears, lifted her head.

“…ah?”

She gasped at the unbelievable spectacle that unfolded before her eyes.

Lisbeth, who usually looked down upon her with Lorraine.

She was crushed to such an extent that it was impossible to recognize her from her original form, whatever remained of her didn’t even looked human.

Marietta didn’t harass Eri directly, but she didn’t help either.

She was lying on the ground with her face squashed, only her minor breathing indicated that she was still alive.

Halberd, who always looked at Eri with a sinister look on his face from a far corner.

He was lying in front of a rock with his back strangely bended.

Lorraine had fainted, leaning against a tree, and Lorian was also lying on the ground. However, in his case, unlike the others, the ground around him was dented because he had received quite a continuous number of smashes.

“W, What is this…”

It was miles different from Eri’s last memory. The ogre’s stomach inflated like a balloon, and suddenly a great roar rang out. After that, she lost her mind in chaos, only now did she raised her head again.

‘Does this even makes sense..?!’

Eri does hates Lorian and his party members.

How can they keep openly ostracizing and ignoring her?

However, apart from that, their abilities were fully recognized by her.

Comparing Cloud’s original party with Lorian’s party, she thinks it’s the difference between heaven and earth.

How was such a powerful party wiped out in such a short time? It was not even the Demon Lord’s Army, but only a random monster they encountered.

It was something she couldn’t quite believe, even if it was clearly presented in front of her.

She, however, had something she was wrong about, too.

Ogres are not like ordinary monsters that are spread out throughout the continent.

They are a higher level monster like dragons.

If an ogre so desires, he alone can ruin a city.

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Not to mention, Lorian and his party members were at a lower level than the ogre.

It was not unusual for the party to be wiped out in the meantime. Rather, it was surprising that they had pushed the ogre upto this degree.

‘Now this has happened, so what should I do…’

“Look down.”

Cloud placed his hand on Eri’s head and forced her to bow down.

Whoops!

A strong wind blew past her back.

Eri looked behind her.

A road was made—

The overcrowded trees were swept away by the club, and the same was true for the remaining sorcerer and sorceress.

They were knocked out by a trunk like club that had been thrown out like a stick.

‘The club flew right above me.’

If it wasn’t for Cloud, Eri would have been in same state as them.

As she imagined the scene, a bone chilling sensation ran upto her spine.

She could have just died.

Leaving nothing behind.

Fear of death began to eat her heart. At first, her legs began to tremble, and then even her whole body.

“Wake up.”

Cloud slapped Eri on the back.

There wasn’t even the slightest mercy in the force, and it brought back her mind.

Eri’s heart still felt the throbbing feeling. She turned her head to Cloud.

“Cloud, escape…”

Eri, who was about to tell him to run away, stopped.

Unlike Eri, he was not drenched in fear. He was looking down at the Ogre with an indifferent expression on his face.

It wasn’t the Cloud that Eri knew.

Cloud lifted his hand from Eri’s head while she felt trepidation from his indifference. He stretched out his hand to his waist and drew out his sword.

Sureung-!

The silver sword came out with a fricative pitch.

Eri, who was dazed at the sight of Cloud she had seen for the first time, came back to her senses facing the sword shining brilliantly in the sunlight.

“Cloud, what are you doing?! Do you want to fight? No! You will die!! You saw it too! T, That, with Lorain and his party! What are you going to do in such a situation?!”

Eri tried to catch him by hand, trying to stop from doing something on impulse. But her hands only caught the empty air. He was already running towards the ogre.

“Gegege!”

The ogre was cackling at the poor human.

Unless it was that strange black gas or that human woman blowing her sword, any human was nothing more than its toy.

At least the ogre thought so.

The ogre clasped his fingers together and slammed it down in the direction of Cloud.

Thud!

The punch hit the ground, making a dull sound.

Dust rose.

“Cloud!”

“Nooo!!”

The voices of Frillite and Eri followed.

“Gegege!”

Along with the sound of a cackling ogre.

Ignoring them all, Cloud proceeded through the dust. The ogre’s fist didn’t even touch him. Just before it reached him, his footsteps knew how to get out of there.

The place Cloud reached through the dust was in front of the ogre’s heel tendon.

There is such a saying among the sayings that have been passed down from time immemorial.

Ogre tendons are harder than most of the rare metals.

And it was true. An ogre, with its tough leather skin can repel all kinds of spear and swords, which will even deform when clanked against an ogre’s tendons.

Enough to withstand the swordsmanship of not only ordinary swordsmen, but also strong knights.

A sword master of an era would have to be present to be able to cut an ogre’s tendon with a sword.

And Cloud was such a complete sword master.

Cloud drew out his sword with force.

A pure black energy without a single impurity faced the ogre’s tendon.

Splat-! 

The tendons present in the ogre’s heels split gently without any resistance.

“Grrh, hgh?!”

The ogre noticed the strangeness only a moment later, but it was already too late for him. His center of gravity was tilted to the side.

“Frillite!”

Cloud called her to bring the end move. He himself was capable enough to finish the ogre, but he didn’t want to take any chances. 

Thud!

Sweesh-! 

The moment the ogre fell.

A sword aura made of countless concentrated sword swipes centered on the great sword piercing the ogre’s neck. It was one of the secrets techniques of the Perdiac Ducal family. 

The ogre groaned on the ground.

But as more than one-third of its neck was seperated, there was no chance that it could survive.

Before long, the meaningless fuss was over.

Cloud reached out to the dead ogre’s corpse. He could feel the soul of the ogre left behind, which had been slashed for experience points. Perhaps it was because he was a high-ranking monster, and even though he had been slashed, he still had a strong soul left behind.

‘Come here.’

Cloud’s point size glyph spreaded evenly and wrapped around his arm.The glyph wrapped around his arms began to absorb the ogre’s soul.

The ogre’s soul struggled against him.

However, since it was a soul that had already been minimized once, and the owner of the glyph was Cloud, resistance was meaningless.

Soon, the soul of the ogre was absorbed into the glyph.

He felt a burning sensation on his upper left torso, as if molten iron was poured inside his body.

‘Is this the process of enlivening a glyph? Quite interesting.’

Cloud quietly waited for the glyph to be completed. When the glyph was completed, he could instinctively understand the effect and skills of the glyph.

* * *

{Glyph of the Ogre}

[Passive]

-Reduces physical damage received by 25%

-Increases strength by 20%

[Active]

-Temporarily doubles the strength

-50% armor penetration buff